The short days means night riding on weekdays, if I get out at all. My road bike has a battery powered headlamp but no storage. So I can't even run errands on it. OTOH, I need the miles to acclimate to roadie. The current plan is (providing the same seat post fits both bikes) is to swap the B17 between the two bike to maximize riding opportunities and time on the B17. You're right, this isn't genius but I'm not going to be posting a ride tonight and the blank page beckoned.

It's certainly nothing to brag about, but I could have done nothing. 45 F is usually enough for me to pack it in, especially on a school night.Anyway that brings me to 70 miles on the Specialized. I'm essentially getting off the couch to ride 150 decidedly unflat miles one weekend in April 2016. Between now and then I gotta build endurance, dump some body fat, break in a new B17 and ride a bunch o' miles. Typically 1000-1500 should get me there. So I'm way behind a 100 mi/wk schedule. It's gotta be easier to maintain some level of fitness rather than starting over annually. I hope i live long enough to find out.

It was a good start for me training wise. Unseasonably warm at 80 deg. Overcast all day with a forecast of rain. When the rain hadn't materialized by 15:00 I decided to roll out. I headed south into 10-15 mph quartering head wind. That works well for me since I catch the tail wind on the way home. I was barely out of the neighborhood before I decided to raise the saddle an inch or so. It seemed to help. I seemed to be making better than average speed for a headwind, so I was encouraged I could feel my left calf on the verge of a cramp around mile 9. I decided not to panic and pedaled onward. It was also at this point I began to feel the burn in my quads. I set a 30 mile goal and figured with 15 miles of tail wind it shouldn't be too difficult. At the 15 mile turn, I took a break got a drink and looked at the clock. It was 17:00 and I'd be riding home in the dark. Note to self: planning is important. I flatted about mile 20. I felt somewhat vindicated hearing unmistakable cyclic ffft,ffft,ffft,fffft of my rear tire deflating. It was on the way out the door, as an after thought, that I decided to bring a pump. Changing flats is never fun and even less so in the dark. 20 mins later, I'm heading home. Overall quite pleased. No obvious fit issues the saddle is reasonably comfy, but it's not my Brooks. Post ride the legs were tired but not depleted. tomorrow morning will tell the real story.

My back has been problematic for years. Monday morning my back attacked me. My wife had to help me put on my socks. I was gimpy for another 3 days. I managed to eek out 12 miles Monday night. It was my coolest ride of the year @ 50° F. We don't get real cold here in Houston, but below 40° is difficult for me. I've ridden down to 34° but that was once and only 6 miles, but it was a milestone for me. Anyway it feels as if the fates are plotting against me. Rainy weekends and a bad back are not helping my training at all. For the truly curious, that is a new commode seat shoved into my Arkel Bug pannier.

Yesterday was gorgeous and I stayed in the house. I fell victim to Netflx. C'est la vie. Up early today though, so there there's a good chance I'll get some saddle time in. This morning I worked on the cable routing for my dynamo powered cell phone charger. It's a great idea and I'm still working on installing and verifying it. Review pending. I missed the start of the grafitti ride but managed to catch up in spite of myself. The ride itself was very slow paced and I missed most of the narration but it was another beautiful day and a nice group of people.

My beloved Thursday night social Ride has been replaced by an hour's worth of 17-19 mph madness. So I ride until I'm dropped. This was my first time out with a pace group clearly out of my league. I bailed 1.5 miles from the start. I managed to finish up the night with 15 miles so not a total loss. My body needs to adapt to the drop bar posture and just being in the saddle for hours at a time. Perhaps the best news of the night is it was a pain free ride. No saddle, back, neck, shoulder of foot pain. I'm actually shocked at the relative comfort of the saddle.Today is Saturday and I hope to get in 20-30 miles. I generally prefer to ride to somewhere and do something as opposed to traditional loop or out and back. Today the George R Brown convention center is hosting a Maker Faire and a gun show. A few miles further would get me to the recently opened and currently only Krispy Kreme. I'm personally convinced that Krispy Kreme is the only doughnut allowed in Heaven and the hot light never goes out.

The roadie came with Look style pedals which are fine except I don't have shoes/cleats that fit them. So down to the LBS for a pedal swap. $50 and 15 minutes later I have my new SPD/Platform pedals installed and the Look pedals are ready for Craigslist. I was also fortunate enough to find my Dinotte headlight which is a quality headlight. I'm embracing my inner Fred. Time for a short ride 'round the hood.

Today I whacked 3" off the seat post to lower the saddle to accommodate my stumpy legs. Jury is still out on the saddle. I rode a Brooks B17 on my last roadie and can see no reason to change except cost. Naturally comfort will be the deciding factor. The bike came with a Specialized Sport wireless speedometer. so after a hunt for a manual it's time to get some batteries and program that puppy! Wireless speedometer is installed and running. Set up was cake. Just the basic functions which is plenty for now.

The weather is driving me nuts. I has rained the last 3 weekends and it's drizzling now. Mercifully though the heat seems to be gone for the season, finally.Tonight I installed a new front derailer on my new-to-me Specialized Allez Sport. Aluminum frame with a carbon fork and a Shimano Tiagra 9 speed group with the exceptions of the derailers. The front der is an Claris and the rear is the venerable Shimano 105. It was essentially a gift from friend considering the price and the Bontrager Race Lite wheel set. So this will become the charity road bike. Now all I need to to do is become a charity road bike rider. The frame is 54 cm which is size wise probably at the practical limit of what I can ride. The saddle will most likely be replaced with a Brooks once I've decided to keep it. Looks like the first modification will be taking a couple inches off the seat post. Next swap the Look pedals for platform pedals. Then installing steer tube riser to make the posture more "old fat man friendly". By the time that all happens I should have a good idea as to the viability of my prospects for completing the local MS150

This all started as a result of a heart attack at at 42. I started out walking then cycling. Now 11 years and 16,000-ish miles later, I'd hoped I'd be in better shape than this. Such is life. What I have learned is that I cannot exercise off what I eat. Unless of course I eat substantially less.Most importantly I've had fun. Going/seeing places meeting people and riding my bike.